TOPLINE:

The annual rate of alcohol-related hospitalizations in the US remained stable from 2016 to 2022, but in-hospital mortality and length of stay increased, with related costs reaching nearly $33 billion, a new cross-sectional study showed.

METHODOLOGY:

• A cross-sectional study included 2.6 million alcohol-related hospitalizations of adults, representing a weighted 12.9 million US hospitalizations (71.5% men). Data were pulled from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project National Inpatient Sample between 2016 and 2022.
• Hospitalizations were categorized into three groups: primary alcohol use disorder (AUD; weighted n = 2.2 million), primary alcohol-related medical complications (n = 1.4 million), and secondary alcohol-related diagnoses (n = 9.2 million).
• The primary outcome was AUD-related hospitalization; secondary outcomes included in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and associated costs.

TAKEAWAY:

• The overall annual rate of alcohol-related hospitalizations remained stable, with rates of 721 per 100,000 in 2016 and 688 per 100,000 in 2022 (annual percentage change [APC], -0.4), but the rate of primary alcohol-related medical complication hospitalizations increased from 70 to 83 per 100,000 during this time period (APC, 3.6).
• Primary AUD-related hospitalizations per 100,000 increased from 117 in 2016 to 127 in 2019 (APC, 2.8) but remained stable after that; and secondary alcohol-related diagnosis hospitalizations decreased from 534 in 2016 to 483 in 2022 (APC, -1.3).
• In-hospital mortality increased significantly from 2.4% in 2016 to 3.1% in 2022 (P < .001). During this period, the mean length of stay also increased (from 5.6 to 6.2 days; P < .001), as did the rate of self-directed discharges (from 5.0% to 6.3%; P < .001).
• Alcohol-related healthcare costs increased even after accounting for inflation, totaling $32.6 billion in 2022, with increased readmissions in 2022 vs 2016 (mean Elixhauser score, 23.7 vs 22.3; P < .001).

IN PRACTICE:

“Expansion of evidence-based policies to reduce alcohol consumption and AUD treatment engagement is needed to improve patient outcomes and reduce the $32.6 billion in healthcare costs incurred by alcohol-related hospitalizations,” the investigators wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Eden Y. Bernstein, MD, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado. It was published online on December 23 in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

The potential misclassification of diagnostic codes may have led to undercounting of AUD cases and alcohol-related hospitalizations; and alcohol consumption could have contributed to hospitalizations through diseases that were not directly alcohol-related. Additionally, the presence of multiple insurance coverages could not be accounted for in the analysis of trends across primary payers.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging. Two of the six investigators reported having several financial relationships, which are fully listed in the original article. The other researchers reported no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.